Fortune Magazine’s “Scariest Tech of 2006” features the “ghastliest gizmos, scariest software and most terrifying technologies of the year.”
Scariest Tech of 2006:
• Sony lithium-ion batteries: Sony’s reputation for quality went up in flames…
• Amazon.com Unbox: Slower than a trip to Blockbuster, more expensive than buying the physical DVD, absurdly restrictive…
• Vonage VoIP: Periodically goes from great to frightening in less time that it takes Lon Chaney Jr. to become a werewolf…
• Hewlett Packard ethics: I’m not sure I’ll ever trust an HP PC not to have spy software, trap doors or other spooky features…
• Microsoft Vista: If ever an operating system needed the software equivalent of garlic and wolfbane to keep away evil spirits, Microsoft Windows would be it. It’s a magnet for hackers, and hardly a week goes by without Microsoft issuing a software security patch, or a patch for the security patch, or a patch to patch the patch. The result is a Frankensoftware monster… Hackers have already demonstrated that Vista’s supposedly impregnable defenses can be broken, which is hardly reassuring for a product whose main raison d’etre is security. And now Vista users will have to depend entirely on Microsoft to keep their computers protected from evil. Wait… what’s that sinister laugh I hear, coming from Redmond?
• Recording madness: The scary thing is, the R.I.A.A. seems to have no concept of fair use…
• Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD: Once again, the standards nightmare returns to haunt consumers…
• Paperless voting machines: Without a paper trail or a reliable way to audit the results, and compounded by the refusal by manufacturers to allow independent software security experts to assess the reliability of the machines, doubts about the fairness of local and national elections will persist.
• Origami Ultra-mobile PCs: These are truly scary little Windows PCs, not small enough to fit in a pocket, not big enough to do useful work, doomed to wander in computing limbo forever…
• Nintendo Wii: Just for the name alone. MacDailyNews Note: Sony and Microsoft are the ones who should be scared. Wii!
• X-Men, The Official Game: Is it possible for a video game to bore you to death?
• “Stay Alive,” from Buena Vista Pictures: The most awful movie so far this year…
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “tom riddle” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Acer: Microsoft’s Windows Vista Home Basic is a lemon – October 27, 2006
Microsoft tries to spur sales with Windows Vista coupons; eWeek says consider Apple Mac instead – October 25, 2006
The plight of the Windows sufferer prompts CNET Editor to suggest: Get a Mac – October 24, 2006
Development approaches of Mac OS X Leopard vs. Windows Vista yield very different results – August 15, 2006
Analyst: Apple’s new Mac OS X Leopard sets new bar, leaves Microsoft’s Vista in the dust – August 08, 2006
Symantec researcher: At this time, there are no file-infecting viruses that can infect Mac OS X – July 13, 2006
Sophos: Apple Mac OS X’s security record unscathed; Windows Vista malware just a matter of time – July 07, 2006
Computerworld: Microsoft Windows Vista a distant second-best to Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2006
Analyst: Windows Vista may still impress many consumers because they have not seen Apple’s Mac OS X – January 05, 2006
5 must-have Nintendo Wii launch games – October 09, 2006
Nintendo’s Wii on Toys ‘R’ Us hot holiday list – September 26, 2006
Nintendo to launch Wii in Japan on December 2nd, priced around US$200 – September 14, 2006
IBM ships first microchips for Nintendo Wii – September 10, 2006
Can Nintendo’s Wii end up number one in market share? – July 18, 2006
Nintendo Wii wins E3 ‘Best of Show’ award – June 01, 2006
Nintendo’s Wii steals show at Electronic Entertainment Expo – May 12, 2006
Fortune: Amazon Unbox movie service ‘unfun,’ a horror show, two thumbs down – September 19, 2006
Amazon Unbox generates resounding yawns; analyst: ‘too little too early’ – September 11, 2006
CNET Alpha Blog: absolutely do not try Amazon Unbox – September 09, 2006
Analyst: ‘Amazon Unbox – Well that didn’t work at all’ – September 09, 2006
Analysts: Amazon’s ‘Unbox’ to be ‘Unsuccessful’ vs. Apple – September 08, 2006
Cringely: Apple, Amazon, and what Steve Jobs has up his sleeve for next Tuesday – September 08, 2006
Amazon.com launches ‘Amazon Unbox’ DVD-quality video download service with TV shows and movies – September 07, 2006
I’m the first one too post hahahaha!….nah just kidding
Yeah thats a good one, “…or a patch to patch the patch.” Sounds like fun and games but its true when it comes to M$.
FIRST!!!!
Windows Vista promises to be even scarier in 2007! That is, when (and IF) it ships!
Don’t believe the story! Tom Riddle (the guy who gave the “heads up”) Is some sort of acronym for……..
Voldemort.
I think that’s what HP told me. But I don’t see where the V came from, or where the I went.
A lot of people have been saying good things about Wii. Not sure if that one belonged on the list.
Someone should write an anti-virus program for Vista and call it “Garlic & Wolfbane 1.0”
MS will not be happy about this list… not one but two mentions and its flagship product on which it will depend is tornn to shreds..
The world is ripe to be picked…by Apple.
Wow. Fortune have it in for Vista..
Look at the Zune shit brown background for the image. And the tatty Windows logo…
A picture is worth a thousand words. And Fortune’s says its a POS.
How right they are.
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Hey, Fortune… Thanks for reminding me about the Origami. I had completely forgotten about that thing. Anyone know how many have sold so far… Has anyone seen one?
FYI tom riddle’s middle name is Marvolo.
buffalo:
yes, I’ve seen one up close (Origami). It truly is the most senseless gadget of 2006.
behind the not-yet-shipping Zune, of course…
What’s more scary about the voting machines is that one of the major supply companies is from Venezuela, and under the control of Vlad ‘The Impaler’ Chavez.
Word, i think you mean anagram.
Tom Marvolo Riddle
I am Lord Voldemort
If you don’t believe tom riddle, look up in Harry Potter’s Chamber of Secret book for that anagram.
This list is right on target except Vista should be number 1.
Sadly the Wii simply won’t have the horsepower to keep up with Sony and Microsoft in the end though. It’s innovative, but too underpowered and underfeatured to truly challenge the PS3 or Xbox 360.
The Wii looks awesome. It’s the only console out there for the gaming purist.
” “Stay Alive,” from Buena Vista Pictures: The most awful movie so far this year…”
Do we still consider Movies as “technology”? I guess they needed a 10 item to round out the list. How about Motorloa ROKR instead? That was DOA.
What are the nominations for the true Number 10 slot in that list?
Hey nerd, we all live in a real world where not everyone has “Harry Potter’s Chamber of Secret book” at their disposal.
Aw man, I forgot *all*about* Origami!!! I just did a quick Google and there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of press on the thing since March.
What a flop!!!
Now that I can put the Zune into the context of Origami, it looks EVEN WORSE!!!
There are people predicting that Zune will have 25% market share in 5 years…
NOPE. No one will buy one. NO ONE. They will dissapear like Origami and 7 months from now we’ll be like “Oh yeah, Zune! What ever happened to that???”
^_^
I seriously think the next few years for Microsoft is going to be like watching the fall of Barad Dur. Can’t wait!!!
-c
MW: ‘work’ (name some things that Origami doesn’t do…)
Hey, I have a juvenile take on Vista:
Call it “Windows Pissta”! After all, it’s no better than PISS!
This is the most un-technical tech site I’ve visited in ages.
“Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything.”
– Josef Stalin
So far, no ties to Chavez have been demonstrated. An investigation has been launched with the intention of verifying that there are no ties to Chavez.